All of a sudden shaking hands with Steve Smith at the end of a game is not such a galling experience for Joe Root. How the tables have turned.

Throughout the Ashes, Root was the captain sifting through the what-ifs and might-have-beens, but two games into the one-day international series and it is his Australian counterpart who is at odds to explain what keeps going wrong.

In contrast to their Test impotence this winter, England’s white-ball cricket has the pizzazz of genuine pace and quality spin, and their classiest batsman is seeing things through after getting starts.

Joe Root shone with bat and ball as England beat Australia by four wickets at the Gabba

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow hit 60 for England as they moved 2-0 up the ODI series

Alex Hales also passed 50 for Eoin Morgan's side as they cruised to victory at the Gabba

Root hit an unbeaten 46 as England won by four wickets and with more than five overs left

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Root is no longer in charge, of course, but it was his all-round display that proved crucial in ransacking the almost impregnable Gabba where, in addition to being unbeaten in 29 Tests, Australia had previously lost just once in 10 ODIs.

His unbeaten 46, following the scalp of Smith among two wickets and a couple of neat catches, contributed to a four-wicket win with 34 balls to spare.

‘To play convincingly and be there at the end is the sort of thing you pride yourself on as a batter — making sure you’re the one to get the job done,’ he said.

Root and Chris Woakes, who finished unbeaten on 39, embrace after victory is secured

Mitchell Starc took four wickets for the home side but they succumbed to defeat in Brisbane

Morgan was bowled by Starc for 21 but England survived a late rally to move 2-0 ahead

‘There wasn’t a lot of finesse and it wasn’t always nice and easy on the eye but it was about winning the game.’

The tactical awareness of Eoin Morgan — the man who inherited the tour’s leadership baton earlier this month — was equally impressive in his England record 70th appearance as one-day captain, using his bowlers in short bursts on a sweltering afternoon and recognising that on an uncharacteristically tacky surface it was important to bowl the ball into the pitch.

To this end, he sprang a surprise with the introduction of Root’s off-breaks for the 20th over.

Aaron Finch hit another hundred as Australia posted 270 in the second game of the series

Australia were 108 for one at that stage — with Aaron Finch on his way to back-to-back hundreds and Smith having marked the anniversary of his previous ODI six with another straight down the ground off Adil Rashid.

Root’s fourth ball beat Smith’s prod to win a leg-before decision, and although Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes ran him close, he was the pick of the bowlers, also nipping out Travis Head via a return catch during seven overs.

Earlier, Smith had asked England to field in 33°C heat, announcing a plan at the toss to ‘run them off their feet’ on a ground with huge square boundaries. But it was Australia who lacked the legs to go the distance in the day-nighter as they failed to heed the lessons of the opening match in Melbourne.

The right-handed opener hit 106 off 114 balls at the Gabba before being caught by Jason Roy

In fact, the similarity between their two innings was uncanny.

At the MCG, the loss of centurion Finch and Mitchell Marsh within a dozen deliveries forced the home team to reset their goals. This time they departed in the space of five — Marsh running past a delivery from Rashid and Finch miscuing low to mid-on to gift Liam Plunkett his 100th ODI wicket.

Here, forced into giving two 50-over debuts after being denied fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and Tim Paine due to illness, the Australians omitted front-line spinner Adam Zampa on a surface upon which England’s trio of twirlers returned combined figures of 24-0-133-5.

Root took two crucial wickets for England, including that of Test counterpart Steve Smith

And to compound the error, they recalled Cameron White after a three-year absence and batted him out of position at No 7. It was an inauspicious return for the 34-year-old during a woeful finale to Australia’s innings that saw them add just 62 for the loss of six wickets during the last 11 overs.

When Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales reached half-centuries from consecutive legitimate deliveries — making light of the early loss of the record-busting Jason Roy to a short-midwicket trap — it appeared a landslide win was on the cards.

But the fast-bowling debutant Jhye Richardson did for both: Hales chopping on after hitting 57, as many as he had made in seven previous matches against the Aussies, and Bairstow driving to cover. Naturally, the pace of the chase slowed thereafter.

Opener David Warner made 35 before he was caught by Root off the bowling of Moeen Ali

And when Mitchell Starc took two wickets in his 10th and final over in a last throw of the dice, Australia retained hope. Yet with Root steadfast at one end, Woakes did a Stokes at the other, climbing into anything too short or too full in a cameo that concluded with Marcus Stoinis being wedged over mid-on for four.

Australia have now failed to beat England in the three matches when their tyro trio of Starc, Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been split up. It is anticipated the three will be reunited on Sunday at the SCG, where another win for Morgan’s team would settle the series.

‘No excuse, England outplayed us again in every facet of the game,’ said Smith. ‘In Sydney it is obviously a do-or-die clash for us and we have to come out and play better one-day cricket.’

After the winter England have had had, those words will be a balm to Root and Co.

Chris Woakes celebrates his run out of debutant wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who made 27]

Liam Plunkett took one for 43 at the Gabba as England's bowlers restricted Australia to 270

Finch, pictured here playing a sweep, hit nine fours and one six during his innings in Brisbane